Curated OER
Become a Member of the Mission to Mars Team
Students examine the various jobs of the Mars Mission Team, organize them into categories and write a formal application for a position on the Mars Mission. Entries are made into the logbook and on-line Field Journals read.
Curated OER
The Quiz Game
Students are split into teams. Students travel to the stars lesson on a given web site and gather information about stars. Students then choose a category for the tag board that the teacher has made. The teacher asks a question and...
Curated OER
Ecosystem Organization - Lesson Plan
Student explore ecosystems. In this ecosystem organization lesson, students consider how scientists study living organisms. Students participate in a teacher guided activity that requires them to visualize an organism and imagine its...
Curated OER
Insect Biology and Ecology: A Primer
Young scholars explore insects and closely related organisms. They examine the growth and development of a lady beetle. Students classify insects and organize them. They investigate pest management.
Curated OER
Creatures from Planet X: Spiders
Students are given a description of some fascinating animals from "Planet X". They follow the descriptions given to illustrate one of these animals paying careful attention to introduced vocabulary such as 'appendages', 'receptors', and...
Curated OER
Facts, Feats and Folklore: Spiders
Students review and discuss a variety of sayings, folklore and superstitions about spiders. They discuss this information and choose either an interesting fact or appealing foklore tradition to illustrate.
Curated OER
How Things Fly
Students, by drawing on their own experiences, discuss and examine the basic physics of flight. They participate in a variety of activities regarding flight.
Curated OER
Spy on a Spider
Learners view slides or live specimens to name and describe the distinguishing features of groups of arthropods, especially spiders and insects. They complete worksheets, observe webs and then search for and record where spiders can be...
Curated OER
How Are Magnetic Fields Related To Sunspots?
Middle schoolers discover that sunspots are the result of intense magnetic forces on the photosphere of the sun by observing images from the SOHO satellite.
Curated OER
Geographic Information Systems
Learners examine the concept of geographic information systems (GIS) and its basic components. They explore an application program using GIS technology and list the various uses for GIS.
Curated OER
The Water Cycle
Students create an "animated" water cycle wheel that illustrates where water comes from and where it goes.
Curated OER
Best of the Solar System
Students visit a site which provides images to be analyzed. Notes are taken and planets are named based on observed features and observations. Using peer review, they try to determine the identity of the planets. They are free to browse...
Curated OER
Global Change — Change and Cycles Where Land, Air and Water Meet
Learners participate in an experiment to define a parts-per-billion solution. In this ecology lesson plan, students select a second substance to create a parts-per-billion solution and observe and record their results. Learners work in...
Curated OER
Time Marches On
Learners research the development of remote sensing, various instruments used throughout time and create a time line depicting the history of remote sensing.
Curated OER
"To Terraform or Not to Terraform?"
Pupils analyze an article written by an engineer at NASA proposing colonizing Mars with human explorers on the fastest track possible. They are invited to react to the article through several activities.
Curated OER
Wind Dynamics and Forests
Students perform experiments to explore differences in wind speed and forest density. Through experimentation and observation, students realize that changes in vegetation affect the atmosphere and wind conditions. They create a model...
Curated OER
Do Human Practices Affect Water Quality?
Young scholars determine if human practices have any noticeable effects on the quality of stream life as measured by the presence of certain macroinvertebrates. They collect, preserve and identify macroinvertibrate samples and quantify...
Curated OER
Predicting the Greening of Spring With Red Emperor Tulips
Students examine seasonal changes by watching tulip plant growth across the continent utilizing the Journey North website. They develop hypotheses as to why the plants emerge and grow where they do.
Curated OER
Discovering Albedo
Students read a thermometer accurately, collect and record data, and generate a graph based on data. They learn what independent and dependent variables are. They analyze data and make conclusions concerning how soil coverings affect...
Curated OER
The Effect of Moisture on Soil Temperature
Students analyze the relationship between soil moisture and its effect on soil temperature.
Curated OER
Fire and Fire Suppression
Students explore forest fires and forest service's new stategies. They study a case of natural burn and the impact of lowering the intensity of a larger forest fire.
Curated OER
Water Flow Through Local Soils
Students examine the relationship between particle size and rate of water flow through soil. They collect soil samples, make predictions, conduct a water flow experiment, analyze the data, and answer conclusion questions.
Curated OER
Oregon Rainshadows
Students brainstorm list of possible highest locations in Oregon, identify and label places from list on map using color code, and discuss and identify causes of a rain shadow.
Curated OER
The Trash We Pass
Students engage in a study of trash and how it is disposed of in the environment. They also research the impact of recycling and its effects upon the disposal amounts. Students calculate the advantages of recycling using real world...